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The Fixer: Don’t want junk mail? Just say no.

Canada Post's job is to deliver mail, not clean up after people who throw it away.

Many people would rather toss their junk mail on the ground at a Canada Post community mailbox on City View Blvd. in Vaughan than take it home, including this man, who dropped anything he didn't want at his feet. (JACK LAKEY / TORONTO STAR) | Order this photo

Here’s an idea for the slobs who toss ad flyers on the ground at community mailboxes, instead of taking them home: Decline delivery.

When customers clearly state that they don’t want junk mail, it won’t be delivered, says Canada Post spokesperson Eugene Knapic.

“If they’re not interested in receiving unaddressed ad mail, you can tape a small notice on the outside of your receptacle that says ‘not interested’,” said Knapic.

We’ve reported on vast piles of junk mail littering the area around a huge community mailbox on City View Blvd. in Vaughan, discarded by local residents who are too lazy to take it home and recycle it.

The mess was last cleaned up by employees of PowerStream, Vaughan’s electrical utility, who work nearby and have several times used their lunch break to get rid of it.

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It’s shameful that people who work but don’t live in the neighbourhood are picking up after residents who won’t do the same for themselves.

Readers told us it’s a problem at many of Canada Post’s large community mailboxes, with some suggesting the mail service should put a recycling box nearby for people to throw the stuff away.

The PowerStream people tried that, but the bin was stolen and the littering continued.

Enough discarded mail has accumulating around the box since the last cleanup that they’re planning another on Wednesday at 1 p.m.

It’s a sticky problem for Canada Post, which is well-paid to deliver flyers and can’t be seen to be doing too much to encourage customers to throw them away before looking at them.

Earnings from unaddressed ad mail are a substantial part of Canada Post’s revenue and help keep down the price charged to the public for delivering letters and other mail, said Knapic.

But it respects the right of people to decline delivery of junk mail and will abide by a clear indication, in the form of a notice attached to the mailbox, that it is not wanted, he said.

What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To email us, go to www.thestar.com/thefixer and click on the submit a problem link. Or call us at 416-869-4823.

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